Fueling on a ride.

Wilby_89

I normally do around 50 mile rides and never really fuelled on the bike.
Did a 50 mile ride yesterday and around about 30 miles in I decided to have a banana when I was on a flat route but found for the next 5 miles felt quite bloated and sick the final 15 miles I was allright.
Gonna get myself some SIS energy gels for the rides but was wondering for a 50 mile ride how much and when would you use the gels.
For a 50 mile ride I was thinking just one gel but unsure when to have this?

bobmcstuff

I personally don't use gels much, like to stick to bananas, flapjacks and soreen...

Surprised you felt bloated off one banana but something you could try is eating jelly babies little and often as that should stop the bloating. Little and often is the way to go. Regards what point in the ride, well it kind of depends how well fuelled you are going into the ride and the ride profile.

With gels I usually carry one just in case I bonk, but too many ruins your insides I find... Also if I have more than one and/or a coffee stop I have to be a little bit careful about having too much caffeine.

fenix

Gels are a messy expensive and unnecessary fuel for riding.

Use energy drink. It's basically your gels prediluted.

FatTed

for a 50 mile ride, I just eat when I get home. I guess it depends how fast your going.

thefalseflat

Depends how hard you're riding as mentioned above. I eat every 40 mins on a long ride, and prefer real food to start off. I switch to gels towards the end of the ride (more so in sportives where I find it difficult to eat as the hours in the saddle increase). I like flapjack, cereal bars, banana paninis, cake, jelly babies. On the Dragon Ride food stops this year I discovered salted jacket potatoes, they were amazing. You probably need to eat more than you think. Also, from experience I'd rather be overfed and have the extra energy than underfed and bonk.

Thigh_burn

I'm a big convert to the Clif Bloks - not too sweet,quite a nice consistency.

I tend empty a packet into a freezer bag, slice up some Clif Bars and put them in the freezer bag, that way I can pick and choose what I want. On the Ride 100 yesterday I tried to eat one item every 15/20mins or so, with good swigs of water/isotonic drink. I felt surprisingly good at the end.

OnTheRopes

Try cutting the banana in half before sticking it in your pocket, then you have 2 smaller feeds.
try fig rolls, nice size and full of energy

ugo.santalucia

When is that food became fuel?

meanredspider

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When is that food became fuel?

When the first thing ate something - probably many millions of years back

ugo.santalucia

meanredspider wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When is that food became fuel?

When the first thing ate something - probably many millions of years back

I get that bit... I was just wondering when in the common dictionary food was replaced by fuel, drinking by hydrating and water by fluid? Is it just me that finds it mildly irritating?

Anonymous

This is something you are going to have to trial over a few rides. Whatever suits you is going to be different to others. I personally have to force myself to eat on a ride as riding seriously effects my appetite. Therefore I have to use stuff that is easy to chew/swallow ie gels or gummy bears. How much and of what you eat pre ride should provide the bulk of your energy and on a 50 mile route a few small tops ups should be enough to keep you going. Trial and error with different foods until you find whats best for you and try and remember to eat before you feel you need it.

Anonymous

ugo.santalucia wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When is that food became fuel?

When the first thing ate something - probably many millions of years back

I get that bit... I was just wondering when in the common dictionary food was replaced by fuel, drinking by hydrating and water by fluid? Is it just me that finds it mildly irritating?

Bike/steed, Bottle/bidon, Etc etc. Sort of word switches people use in the vain attempt to make themselves sound like they know what they are talking about.

vrsmatt

Fenix wrote:

Gels are a messy expensive and unnecessary fuel for riding.

Use energy drink. It's basically your gels prediluted.

Not entirely true

You can only 'carb load' pre ride so much

Eg for a 4 hour sportive where you will be pushing yourself you will only have stored enough carbs to last 1hr to 1hr and a half at full gas before you start to run out and burn fat from around your organs, which will be replaced immediately you eat again.

The body can only process( absorb and use ) around 60g of carbs per hour so to keep going efficiently and not converting fat from around your organs etc you need to take on around 60g of carbs per hour.

Its pretty difficult to get that through drinks alone over a 100 mile sportive unless your carrying 4 bottles or more so some kind of food is an alternative......many foods are hard to digest and wont give you the 60g per hour you need so you need something easily to absorb, there are natural things that can do this but gels are easy to carry, quick to 'eat' and have sodium/potassium to help with correct salt levels.

So yeah, not necessary strictly, but on a long, intense ride the alternatives can be awkward to carry/use/digest

Obviously for shorter/lower intensity rides the above may not be necessary, but most of us do a hard long ride once a week I guess

keef66

I have dilute squash with a bit of salt in my bottles, and fig rolls and jelly babies in my back pockets. Bite of fig roll, a couple of jelly babies and a swig of drink every 30 mins or so and I can keep going for hours.

If I'm planning to be out all day though, the sweet stuff loses it's appeal. I'll take a saddlebag with some savoury stuff too. Ham / cheese sandwiches, pork pie, crisps etc, and have a proper sit down picnic or two.

drlodge

keef66 wrote:

I have dilute squash with a bit of salt in my bottles, and fig rolls and jelly babies in my back pockets. Bite of fig roll, a couple of jelly babies and a swig of drink every 30 mins or so and I can keep going for hours.

If I'm planning to be out all day though, the sweet stuff loses it's appeal. I'll take a saddlebag with some savoury stuff too. Ham / cheese sandwiches, pork pie, crisps etc, and have a proper sit down picnic or two.

Much the same - High 5 Isotonic in my bottles (or squash in winter) and then fig rolls, flapjack, jelly babies as needed. My rides nearly always entail a café/coffee/cake stop mid way so the need to eat other than at the stop is quite rare.

I don't use gels, but do have stock of zipfit chocolate bars as they're very convenient for the longest rides and sportives in an emergency.

KevinA

Dont a 50 mile route the other day and had one Gel and 2 bottles of energy

I usually eat a good breakfast and find I dont need that much

rower63

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When is that food became fuel?

probably about the same time a nice meal out became "Please allow at least 2.5 hours for your meal experience" in the confirmation email for a table I've booked at a quite expensive restaurant. I hope my appetite returns after I nearly barfed on reading that

imposter2.0

rower63 wrote:

probably about the same time a nice meal out became "Please allow at least 2.5 hours for your meal experience" in the confirmation email for a table I've booked at a quite expensive restaurant. I hope my appetite returns after I nearly barfed on reading that

That's just another way of saying "our service is sh1t, so we pretend that taking 2.5 hours to serve a meal is a good thing"

drlodge

Imposter wrote:

rower63 wrote:

probably about the same time a nice meal out became "Please allow at least 2.5 hours for your meal experience" in the confirmation email for a table I've booked at a quite expensive restaurant. I hope my appetite returns after I nearly barfed on reading that

That's just another way of saying "our service is sh1t, so we pretend that taking 2.5 hours to serve a meal is a good thing"

Nah, the meal takes an hour followed by 90 mins in the khazi.